US stock markets have traded modestly in the red in listless trade, with only poor Japanese data making a dent on trade slowed by the summer holiday.

“The light trading action recently has been accompanied by a modest upward drift in stock prices. Trading is likely to be light again today,” said Dick Green of Briefing.com.

Five minutes into trade on Monday the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 36.11 points, or 0.27 per cent, at 13,171.84.

The broader S&P 500-stock index lost 3.31 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 1,402.56.

The tech-rich Nasdaq fell 2.98 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 3,017.88.

Earlier the Japanese government said the country’s April-June GDP grew 0.3 per cent from the previous quarter, sharply weaker than market expectations of a 0.7 per cent increase.